Building in speakers (1 Viewer)

[Mark Thomas]

I am in the planning stages for a built-in across one whole wall of my basement, wall to wall, floor to ceiling. I have a pair of Infinity Kappa7 speakers. In order to build around them the cabnetry is going to look stupid, so, what to do? I could take them apart and build them into the cabinetry (saving the old speaker cabinets of coarse). Is it moronic to dissasemble a perfectly good set of speakers? Will I lose anything by doing it? How can I retain the rich sound the Kappas deliver now? The old Infinities have no porting either. Could I enhance the sound by porting the built-in speaker cabinets?

If I don't do something my plans will be at a standstill, because I refuse to let go of my old Kappas. It's not that I'm cheap (OK, yes it is), but I have sentimental feelings for these boxes. Oh God, what they have seen and done for me over the years!

Help!

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Generally, a ported box will give you a little more bass extension than a sealed one but, it's not as easy as just drilling a hole in the box. You really have to do some measurements on the woofers to tune a ported box properly. Otherwise your speakers might sound too boomy or worse, you could bottom out your woofers and ruin them.

I realize you love your Infinitys, but you're basically one step away from getting into DIY speaker building. I would bet you could find a kit or design out there that'll meet your needs... and, the satisfaction of building it yourself will give you a greater attachment to your self-built speakers. (no offense to the Infinitys, of course. )

There's plenty of help here in the DIY forum for whichever route you choose.

 

[ThomasW]

Factory made speakers have (BSC) baffle step compensation. This is part of the crossover and is designed to contour to the sound of the speaker. The usual amount of BSC is set for the speaker to be placed at a distance of approx 24" from any boundry/wall. So if you 'build-in' the speakers you'll need to completely remake the crossovers.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Are these what your speakers look like?


If so, the dimensions are 37" X 17" X 12", and
HERE is a sheet showing the technical specs including the crossover diagram. (gotta love the internet! )



This is probably true for higher-end speakers. I can't tell by the crossover if they took this into consideration (I can only build simple crossovers ), but Thomas is right, the speakers may sound slightly different on a different shaped baffle.

Personally, I would hate to see you go through all this trouble and not like how they sound. If you're space is limited, perhaps you could look at building a satellite/subwoofer setup?

 

[Mark Thomas]

MY SPEAKERS!!!!

Yep, thats them alright. I may be in over my head if it comes to building crossovers and correct baffling. I'm not on that level yet. I could make the internal dimentions identical to the original cases, and the built-in is to be made from 3/4" MDF and painted white (13 sheets of it). So I would have the density of the cabinets or more, which are now oak plywood carcass and oak trim.

On the other hand, maybe all good things do have to come to an end. With all your help I bet I could make a set of rockin' built-ins. I suppose I would have little to lose by trying to use my Kappas first. It's not like I'm going to destroy them, so if it doesn't work then I re-assemble them and sell them to a good home and move on.

BTW- no porting. Bass is just fine as is.

 

[perry web]

i would not take them apart. things never go back together correctly.

I would build spaces for them to slide into. then build a panel door (like nice kitchen cabinets) and put speaker fabric in the center instead of a panel. it would look like a door instead of speaker. you could make the other intertainment doors match.